All the cards

65

Amity ran out, ignoring her brothers and headed straight to the infirmary. She passed Vincent walking out. She headed straight for her youngest brother.
"Kol?" She rushed over to him, grabbing his shoulders as she looked him over. "Oh, god. Tell me it's not true."
"Who told you?"
"Hayley."
"Huh, I was betting on Freya." He said. "But I suppose I don't know her well enough to make that assumption."
"Why can't you get into trouble when I can actually help you?"
"That'd take all the fun out of it. Shouldn't you be figuring out a way to stop Lucien or something?"
"Freya's been tasked with that. I'm supposed to be looking for a cure."
"Are you sure that's safe?"
"I'm playing by nature's rules. I'm being careful and safe."
"If you'd just have let Finn die..." Kol said, his tone mocking.
"Then we'd have no one to blame when things went wrong. We're Mikaelsons. Things always go wrong."
"Can't you get a hold of Chris?" Davina pushed in. Amity shook her head, sympathetically.
"Mal gave up his powers. To save me. He doesn't have the ability to do any magic anymore."
"Save you? From what?"
"It's a long story." Amity turned back to her brother. "I'm sorry."
"You need to stop blaming yourself for the rest of our misfortune. This didn't happen because of you."
"No, it happened in spite of me. I was supposed to protect you."
"Kol's right. This isn't your fault. You can't blame yourself."
"You need to work on a cure for Lucien's bite, sister. I'll be safe here for now. You've got work to do."
"I'm not leaving you to deal with this on your own little brother. You've already died twice. I don't care to see you die a third."
"I'm not alone." He looked over to Davina and she smiled at him. "Besides, when I survive this, I'd like to know that I can survive Lucien's bite."
"Take care of him for me?" She asked Davina.
"Always."
"I'll be fine Ami. Just keep yourself safe. Izzy can't afford to lose his mother."
"I know." Amity said, and hugged her brother tightly again.
"Tell Amira I'm not done grovelling just yet, won't you?"
"I will." Kol pat Amity's back and she reluctantly let go.
"I'll be fine, sister." He assured. "I have a pretty witch to keep me safe, and Vincent's looking for a way to stop the curse. You're being dramatic."
"Call me if anything happens. Anything at all. If you need me, Kol."
"I'll call you." He vowed and she turned and walked away. Kol smiled at Davina, a little embarrassed. "Not a word."
"I think it's cute."

Hayley looked up as Amity sped into the room.
"Find anything?" Amity asked.
"You've seen the piles of grimoires, right? I've barely made a dent, and so far only one grimoire to do with transmogrification. Human to rat."
"That's mama Rose's. She was my great great grandmother."
"You must have a lot of family history."
"I do. When I turned 16, Esther passed down this pendant. It was mama Rose's talisman. It was supposed to be passed down to Dahlia, but she gave it to Esther when she announced her marriage to Mikael."
"I thought Dahlia was against it?"
"She was." I picked up a different grimoire, continuing the story. "Mama Rose infused a little of her spirit into the talisman, as a guidance for whoever might need it. Dahlia thought Esther was in desperate need of guidance and gave it to her in hopes Esther would come to her senses and not follow through with the wedding."
"I'm guessing it didn't work."
"It might have. Esther was too afraid that it might that she never wore it. The tradition goes that it goes to the eldest daughter. And for a couple generations, it did. The eldest daughter would be connected to Mama Rose's power, and could use the pendant to help those around them. I guess, technically Freya should've gotten it, but Esther gave it to me. Not her best decision, if I'm being honest. I was a sixteen year old witch, and considering our line was full of crazy power, and I was at the peak of my teen rebellion-"
"You went through a rebellious phase?"
"I rebelled against Esther. We didn't get along often. I didn't even tell her about Abraham. She found out from Ayana."
"His mom."
"Yeah. Also her best friend. I didn't get in as much trouble for that as I wanted. Anyways so Esther gave me the talisman." Amity closed the grimoire she was reading, placing it on top of Rose's, and picked up another. "And that night, Mama Rose contacted me."
"That spell you used to use to see Abraham."
"Not at first. First she came to me in my sleep. Visions and such. The dead had that power. The spell was to see what I could do. She taught me a lot. And I'd take what I learnt and try to apply it during my day lessons with Ayana."
"Sounds like giving you that pendant was a good idea."
"For me, yes, but also- Mama Rose was the one to help me remember Freya. All those memories I'd buried as a child. After that, I pretty much only ever interacted with Esther when I had to. It wasn't hard, Henrik was still young, barely two. Still, it didn't look good for her. Not being able to keep me in control."
"What about Mikael?"
"It was a hard year. Food wise." Amity put away another grimoire and picked up a different one. "All the men in the village had to go on hunting trips, ranging from weeks to even a month. Mikael, Finn, Elijah... Abraham. I was harsh on Esther, after finding out about what had really become of Freya. I blamed everything that ever happened on her. Which she did deserve. Esther's line was crazy. The firstborn always had the most power, but any child after that wasn't exactly powerless. I wouldn't have been able to match Freya then, myself, but I might have been close. I still had devastating power locked within."
"I've seen you angry. But I still can't picture you being anything other than sunshine and rainbows as a human."
"Finn could tell you-" Amity faltered, stopping herself. "I was a troublesome kid, and if Hope is half as bad as me, you're in for a lot of long nights."
"But you turned out pretty great."
"I matured. I grew older, married Abraham. Spent less time around Esther so I calmed a lot more. I had Benji, and I never stopped looking for Freya. The more I learned about Dahlia, the more I realised I had to tread carefully. Yeah, there's a lot that happened when I was human." She put down her grimoire picking up another. "Enough about me. Feel like sharing a story or two from your past?"
"Your past is more interesting than mine. My foster parents kicked me out after they found out I turned, and I found a pack of wolves in the Appalachian mountains."
"How did you meet Tyler?"
"He was trying to break his sire link to your brother. I heard a rumour of a man who was shifting into a wolf in the middle of the day and got curious. I didn't know it was possible. He didn't tell me who he was, just that he was a hybrid who was trying to get home to his girlfriend."
"Caroline."
"Yes."
"So I helped him turn and I introduced him to the other wolves. A few months later, he was ready to go."
"Oh."
"Tell me more about Klaus as a human."
"He was a sweet boy. He hated destroying things, he much preferred to create. He'd use berries to paint- on stones and walls, scrolls and paper. Give him a piece of wood and he'd turn it into a detailed chess piece. Give him a knife, and he'd etch a picture into rock."
"I know he's an artist, but there's no way Klaus hated destruction."